European Kingdoms

Germanic Tribes

Nemetes
(Germans/Belgae?)

Usually classified as a Germanic
tribe, by the first century BC the Nemetes were a relatively small group
that was occupying territory on the west bank of the Rhine. They were
neighboured to the north and south by similarly small German tribes that
had also crossed the river to further push the Gauls westwards, the
Vangiones
and Triboci respectively.
Across the Rhine were the
Tulingi, while to the
west were the
Mediomatrici.

However, as if to refute this classification as Germans, wherever
Celts lived,
'nemet-' provided a component of tribal names, often in connection to woods
or small forests. Nemetona was a goddess whose name was based on the Celtic
root 'nemeto-', meaning 'consecrated space, grove'. She possibly personified
the concept of sacred space and was almost certainly the eponymous deity of
the Nemetes. Nemetona is attested throughout their territory. Given this
dominance by Celtic names and a goddess, but the tribe's generally attested
Germanic origins, it seems most likely that this group of Germans were
commanded by a Celtic elite, possibly following their crossing of the Rhine
(although the Celtic elite may have been
Belgic,
which could push back their takeover by several centuries and perhaps make
the entire tribe Belgic with different degrees of Germanic influence). Their
neighbours to the west were also Belgic, which may serve to explain why the
Nemetes were able to remain on the west bank of the Rhine after the defeat
of Ariovistus of the
Suebi in
58 BC.

The tribe is also sometimes referred to as the Nemeti, which is simply the
same thing with a different plural suffix. Nemetes is reduced to 'nemet'
without its plural suffix, '-es'. Nemet was a Celtic word used for a
sacred grove. Essentially the tribe were 'the people of the sacred grove'.
The use of a Celtic word to describe themselves seems to lend weight to
the supposition that they (or at least their warrior elite) were Belgic
rather than Germanic.

With a capital at Noviomagus Nemetum, the tribe's lands began at the edge of
the vast Hercynian silva, the great forest that stretched into the distant
east from from the Rhine, virtually cutting off southern Germany from
Southern Europe. Precisely when the tribe arrived on the west bank of the
Rhine is unknown. The 'border' (not that any such organised method of
differentiation existed) between Celts and Germans was in a state of
constant fluctuation. However, given the fairly well-known rate of German
advance from Northern Europe, the Nemetes can only have arrived in the
second or first centuries BC at the earliest (provided, of course, that they
actually were Germans).

The Aeduii
appeal to Rome
for relief from the alleged cruelty of Ariovistus of the
Suevi towards
them. Julius Caesar, in his role first as consul and then as governor of Gaul
(from 58 BC), appears to pursue a diplomatic course that will deliberately end
in warfare. Caesar is also informed that a further hundred units of Suevi are
about to cross the Rhine under Nasua and Cimberius.

The showdown happens at the Battle of Vosges following an unsuccessful
face-to-face parley between the two leaders. The Suevi host lines up in units
of tribal groups starting with the
Harudes,
Marcomanni,
Triboci,
Vangiones, Nemetes,
Sedusii and
the core of the Suebi themselves. Superior Roman tactics breaks that line
and the Suevi host makes a run for the Rhine. Ariovistus makes it across,
but many of his allies now turn on him and the Suevi. It is Caesar who records
the existence of the Suevi, differentiating them from the tribe of the
Cherusci,
but now they avoid the Rhine for generations, concentrating on building a
fresh confederation in central Germania.

This is the first mention in history of the Nemetes, and they are clearly
already in Gaul if only as part of the Suebic invasion. Whether they had
carved out a territory beforehand, or do so now, taking land from the
Mediomatrici,
they become a permanent fixture on the west bank of the Rhine.

53 BC

As noted by Julius Caesar in his Gallic Wars, the Hercynian Forest
(known to the Greeks as Orcynia) is home to a mixture of Germans and a
once-powerful arm of the Volcae
Tectosages. The forest lies on the east bank of the Rhine (this forms
the northern border of the lands known to the ancient writers of the
Mediterranean, and the modern Black Forest forms its western part). Its
breadth is such that it takes a quick traveller nine days to cross it through
uncertain paths, as there are no known roads. It begins at the frontiers of
the Helvetii,
Nemetes, and
Raurici, and
extends in a line along the River Danube to the territories of the Daci and
the Anarti. From
there its borders twist northwards into the vast lands that have not been charted
by the Mediterranean cultures.

The Riesengebirge was part of the once-vast Hercynian Forest
which spread eastwards from southern Germany and which proved a
serious impediment to Roman expansion

10 BC

The first Roman
presence in Noviomagus (modern Speyer) is established in the form of a military
camp (which can be located between the modern episcopal palace and the town hall).

AD 98

Writing around this time, the
Roman
writer Tacitus mentions the Nemetes, calling them 'unquestionably Germanic',
but perhaps being too restricted in his definition of what was clearly
Germanic,
Belgic, or
Gaulish.
Under Rome's administration of Gaul and the Rhine frontier, the civitas
of the Nemetes becomes part of Germania Superior (Upper Germany). The
civitas is administered from Noviomagus. During the middle ages the town
becomes better known in the Germanic form of 'Spires' (as Speyer), coined
for its ecclesiastical leanings which begin before AD 346, by which time a
bishop is already in residence. The medieval diocese of Speyer preserves the
former tribal boundaries.